


Bribery no, physical damage yes   OR   The Ferris Wheel Story

by LTRisBACK



Series: Five times Crowley tried to propose, and one time... [1]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Adorable, Country Fair, Cuddles, Ferris Wheels, Other, Slice of Life, pranks go wrong, sooooft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:49:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26356003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LTRisBACK/pseuds/LTRisBACK
Summary: Crowley and Aziraphale go the fair in their little village in the South Downs.  Crowley can't quite resist using a minor miracle to manipulate their situation, and it comes back to bite them (but only gently).
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Series: Five times Crowley tried to propose, and one time... [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1923421
Comments: 14
Kudos: 55





	Bribery no, physical damage yes   OR   The Ferris Wheel Story

**Author's Note:**

  * For [VirtualCarrot (Kaoro)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaoro/gifts).



> This is all my friend VirtualCarrot's fault. I mean, Nenchen also contributed but really it's all Carrot, so this is for them. Thanks for letting me play in the kitchen, Carrot!!!

Crowley grabbed the back of Aziraphale’s coat and yanked, just barely managing to pull him out of range of the enormous, snapping teeth. The llama, clearly disappointed with his interference, glared at him momentarily before straightening haughtily. As it drew its head further back Crowley got a bad feeling. He began to tow Aziraphale further away but it was too late. The hot, stinging spit flew towards them and only a minor miracle kept it from making contact.

“Really, Aziraphale? I KNOW you can read, you own a bookshop, your books are your most treasured possessions, did you not see the sign? Can’t understand why a fair would allow an animal that both bites and spits to come in, sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen if you ask me, but at least they do clearly warn about it!”

“But, my dear, vicuna llama is some of the softest fleece in the world, I merely wanted to feel what it was like while still on the animal.”

Crowley rolled his eyes, hard. Of course he had. “Well, the next time you decide to try that, maybe choose an animal that isn’t signed as being a hazard to your limbs?”

Aziraphale huffed a sigh as though being asked to take care of himself was some huge imposition, but he tucked a hand through Crowley’s arm and led him away down the stall-lined pathway, each of them occasionally pausing to look at something.

Crowley stopped at a food stall and considered it. Aziraphale huffed, he really didn’t know what Crowley had against candy floss machines (nothing, but more on that in a moment) but he had broken at least four that Aziraphale knew of in their history of meeting up at fairs.

Crowley actually quite liked candy floss, but the machines that made it were such a fabulous thing to sabotage when one was trying to cover up their reasons for being at a fair. Once the machine stopped working, parents could no longer obtain the spun sugar treats for their children, resulting in tears, tantrums, frustrated parents, and tempers being taken out on those around them.

“Leave it, love,” Aziraphale gave a gentle tug on Crowley’s arm, the gentle touch grounding and reminding him that he didn’t need an excuse for why he was at this fair. They were here together, openly, because they could be. This was their village, their village fair and they were enjoying it together. Stepping up to the counter he bought a serve of the sticky treat, which he immediately offered to his angel.

They made their way through the fair, Aziraphale stopping to exclaim over various handicrafts, one or two of which Crowley managed to convey to the sellers to set aside for him. He just barely noticed the second hand book stall in time to distract Aziraphale with something else since he didn’t want to spend all day there.

They rounded the end of that particular pathway and the area where all the rides were grouped came into view. It had made sense, Crowley had told the planning committee, to put all the rides in one place as that would allow for easier flow of traffic through the rest of the fair. It also meant that they all had a solid footing on the asphalt of the carpark next to the village green. It worked well for everyone having the rides in one place, with the possible exception of the carnies who ran them. Then again it wouldn’t be a proper temptation if someone didn’t suffer at least a little for it.

Crowley slowly, gently, guided Aziraphale over towards the rides. His angel wouldn’t care for most of them but he had a plan and he was determined to carry it out. When they reached the rides, Aziraphale balked.

“My dear, you know how I feel about these mechanical contraptions, I have no desire to be flung about in a dizzying fashion for what I must believe is the amusement of other people, since I would clearly gain no pleasure from it myself,” the angel huffed.

“Trust me, Angel, we’re not going on anything awful,” Crowley attempted to draw him forward, but it was like trying to move a skittish horse. “Look, I just thought we could enjoy the view from the ferris wheel, no speedy movements, no bouncing or being flung around. Just a nice, smooth ride to look over the whole village, what do you say?” Crowley pointed toward the ferris wheel and after a long moment Aziraphale conceded. He allowed himself to be tugged towards it and guided into the bench seat. Crowley sat beside him and the safety bar closed across both of them. Aziraphale fidgeted, he really did hate trusting these mechanical contraptions, he’d seen so many accidents happen through the last few centuries as humans became more and more dependent upon them.

Crowley took Aziraphale’s hand and he turned to face the demon, who smiled encouragingly at him. “It’s okay, Angel,” Crowley squeezed his fingers gently. “It’s going to be a nice ride.”

The chair started moving under them and Aziraphale stiffened, then relaxed. Honestly he didn’t mind the idea of a ferris wheel. He had never ridden on one but he knew they had been around for long enough that basically all of the kinks had been worked out. They didn’t go fast, and the view really ought to be pretty wonderful. They made it almost halfway up before the ride paused, and when Aziraphale glanced down he saw another couple boarding.

Now that he had stopped looking at Crowley, he twisted in the seat, looking around to take in the view. They weren’t past rooftop level yet but the view of the fair was interesting. Aziraphale spotted the llama with its little quarantine bubble of space to keep it from attacking anyone, including the other animals in their little yards. He had to smile, because getting Crowley to rescue him from the llama had worked out pretty well really, if he did say so himself.

The wheel started moving again and Aziraphale watched as the fair diminished beneath them. He was suddenly reminded of the last time he flew, and nostalgia swelled within him. It had been almost three hundred years but suddenly all he wanted to do was spread his wings and go for a flight and he didn’t want to do it alone. Well, maybe they could go down to the coast and go cliff diving together. They hadn’t done that since that night in Greece in...he couldn’t remember the year. He pulled himself from his reminiscences with the firm reminder to enjoy the moment.

Crowley was here, sitting beside him, holding his hand and watching the view as well. They reached the top of the wheel and Aziraphale gasped. They were now just above the height of the church bell tower, the tallest structure in the village, and the view was incredible. He wouldn’t have thought there was anything particularly special about the view and he supposed in all honesty there wasn’t, but it was still lovely.

The ferris wheel gave a sudden jerk and Aziraphale gasped. That wasn’t like when they stopped it earlier to let someone else on, this was rougher, and Aziraphale was suddenly gripped by the certainty that something was wrong. He dropped Crowley’s hand as he twisted in the seat, glancing around wildly.

“What happened? What was that?”

“Hmmm...it seems that the ride has stopped.” Crowley’s voice was far too relaxed for this situation, Aziraphale felt. “A small problem with the electrical systems, most likely. Not to worry, Angel, they’ll get it started again eventually.”

Aziraphale turned back towards the demon, eyes narrowing. “Crowley? What did you do?”

The attempted expression of hurt innocence on Crowley’s face was completely unbelievable for anyone who had ever seen him after one of his minor temptations went in a direction he really hadn’t expected. “Do? Angel, I’m hurt! Why would you think I did…” he was interrupted by Aziraphale’s finger stabbing him in the chest.

“What did you do?”

“Just a...little adjustment, really, it should be easy to fix, I just wanted to get to enjoy the view with you for a bit,” Crowley replied, the words spilling out in a rush. “They’ll have it fixed in no time, Angel, for sure.”

Aziraphale frowned at him, then turned away, directing his attention to the view. “Well, I hope you’re right, my dear, and that this is one of the times when evil does not cont…”

“Don’t say it!” Crowley hissed. “You’re tempting fate, Angel, why would you say that?”

“Excuse me? I’m not the one who got us trapped at the top of a ferris wheel!” Aziraphale snapped back. Crowley grumbled and turned away to look at the view.

Five minutes passed, then ten, and Crowley was starting to worry. They should surely have started moving again already. The people below them were yelling to the people on the ground, but Crowley couldn’t be bothered to listen in. Instead he chose to sit there and stew that Aziraphale was being so unreasonable.

He shivered suddenly, and it was then he realised how cold the breeze was at the top of the ferris wheel. It had been a pleasant day on the ground, and Crowley had almost been too warm in his dark clothing but up here the breeze, which was swiftly becoming a wind, cut through him in a way it hadn’t down below. The next shiver was more violent and Aziraphale turned towards him, raising an eyebrow.

“Something, my dear?” he enquired, expression vaguely amused. Now that he knew they weren’t likely to go plummeting out of the sky, he was basically resigned to waiting this out and had settled in to enjoy the view.

“No, Angel, nothing. Look over there, though, don’t David’s sheep look cute from this high up?”

“Hmmm, yes, I suppose they do,” Aziraphale acknowledged, peering in the indicated direction. “Like tiny clouds on the ground.”

Crowley shivered again and wished he could snap up a blanket to warm himself or, even better, snuggle up to a warm angel to drive off the chill. The wind, however, had nothing on the chill that was, to his mind at least, radiating from said angel.

He searched on his side of the wheel for anything that would require Aziraphale to lean closer to see, but before he could come up with a temptation to bring his angel closer, said angel yawned, stretched his arms high in the air and lowered one of them over Crowley’s shoulders.

“Come here, you foul fiend,” Aziraphale whispered and gave a little tug to slide Crowley across the seat, lining their bodies up so that Aziraphale a long line of warmth against Crowley’s cold side. “My dear, you are so cold!” Crowley burrowed in unashamedly, or attempted to, but Aziraphale was already pulling away, and he whined sadly. He had thought he was forgiven for his little trick, but apparently...Aziraphale was undressing?

Aziraphale, meanwhile, was rapidly stripping off his coat and, with a quick miracle, he expanded it then worked to wrap it around both of them. As soon as he started spreading it around them, Crowley latched onto his now only jacket clad form, tucking himself in close even as the angel wrapped the enlarged coat around them both.

Crowley hissed happily as Aziraphale’s arms settled around him, the angel’s expectation stopping the coat from moving away once he had let go of it. “There, you silly serpent. You know you only have to ask, I’ll always take care of you.”

It was over an hour before the humans finally fixed the ferris wheel. The lower passengers had been rescued by the ladder of the local fire truck, but it hadn’t been able to reach right to the top, being only a small rural machine that did not need to reach higher than two stories.

They had passed the time pointing out various sights, and planning a trip to the coast to go cliff diving and then have a long night flight. When the wheel finally started turning, though, they did sigh in relief. The seat was not the most comfortable one to be sitting on for hours on end, certainly. When they finally stepped off the ferris wheel, greeted by the cheers of the townsfolk, Aziraphale swung his coat back on (Crowley miraculously resizing it back to its former proportions) and they headed off to find themselves some terrible but delicious food to eat. Crowley stretched out and wrapped an arm around Aziraphale’s shoulders, and Aziraphale snugged an arm around Crowley’s waist. It took them all of three seconds to work out exactly how to walk this way when neither of them needed physical support, then they wandered off to enjoy the rest of their day.

Crowley felt the tiny lump in his pocket and sighed. Did it count as chickening out when the love of your life got annoyed partway into the proposal plan and you decided to wait for a more opportune moment?


End file.
